We're looking for long answers that provide some explanation and context. Don't just give a one-line answer; explain why your answer is right, ideally with citations. Answers that don't include explanations may be removed.

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, visit the help center for guidance. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

\$\begingroup\$I disagree. Design and development are different topics, intertwined as they sometimes may be for indies.\$\endgroup\$
– ltiJul 22 '10 at 20:44

1

\$\begingroup\$Either way, I'm less concerned since he changed it to a wiki. :)\$\endgroup\$
– CyclopsJul 22 '10 at 22:18

1

\$\begingroup\$Shouldn't we create a format for posting the books? One book with a linked title and a short description of why it's recommended and what it's about per answer?\$\endgroup\$
– ZolomonNov 6 '10 at 12:01

2

\$\begingroup\$I think the answers should be game development specific and not "generally accepted best practices for every coder" type books, such as Code Complete and Clean Code. Yes, those are good books, but this list should be specific.\$\endgroup\$
– kirk.burlesonNov 6 '10 at 14:06

31 Answers
31

Even just reading them will give you a lot of ideas and insights in different approaches that will spark your thought processes and will give you a nice interdisciplinary toolbag. Also, lots of references to other interesting works.

\$\begingroup\$I wish some of those were available online or a bit cheaper, because there's loads of them and they're about £30 each so buying them all would be really expensive!\$\endgroup\$
– IainJul 22 '10 at 20:41

1

\$\begingroup\$I agree, but used through Amazon they're okay. Could also check eBay? I do truly value my copies. Also, volume 8 is available online at my.safaribooksonline.com\$\endgroup\$
– KajJul 22 '10 at 21:22

\$\begingroup\$Any especial place where to start with this huge collection or any random one is a good?\$\endgroup\$
– DFectuosoJul 23 '10 at 18:14

1

\$\begingroup\$I honestly love em all. The earlier ones are a bit more low-level, but I do believe low-level knowledge is a valuable basis.\$\endgroup\$
– KajJul 23 '10 at 18:41

3

\$\begingroup\$These book are excellent, talk about solving common problems in game design, however a disclaimer must be placed. These are NOT beginners books. Only when I nearly completed my BS in Computer Science did these book really shine for me.\$\endgroup\$
– Bryan HarringtonNov 4 '10 at 17:09

Touches on most areas involved in game development. Because of the number of subjects covered the book doesn't go into depth in any specific area but gives a broader view. I recommend anyone interested in game development read this book.

If your interests lie in 3D rendering; this is the reference book to own. The book is theoretical and requires the reader have strong math skills.

Also if you're developing shaders (then you probably already know this but) the ShaderX series are a great read, and the series will continue under the name GPU Pro. (I have not read this one yet though)

I see no one talked about this one, wich I think is a must-must for any game programmers. A lot of good stuff about mathematics used in video games like trigonometry, vectors, ballistic and collisions and some more complex motion laws. It's a must have in your bookshelf !

And I almost forget... "Clean Code" and "The Pragmatic Programmer" are really nice books to read and keep not too far when working in a developer team. Teach you about how to make good programs that will save time and money to your team.

\$\begingroup\$I like this book as well. It's a book that's pleasant to read but doesn't lack depth. Covers a lot of interesting topics. Most of it is also available on Google-Books: books.google.com/…\$\endgroup\$
– bummzackJul 22 '10 at 21:43

1

\$\begingroup\$This is a fantastic book... beware though, there's lots of 'behind the scenes' code that isn't mentioned, but required for all of the examples (and it becomes much more than a small task if you're porting to a different language).\$\endgroup\$
– Steven EversJul 22 '10 at 22:44

\$\begingroup\$+ 1, I would vote-up this one a hundred times if I could!\$\endgroup\$
– BjoernNov 12 '10 at 13:08

\$\begingroup\$This is a must read for anyone who wants to be a "programmer". Not sure it fits in directly to game dev but I love this book so much I just had to upvote it\$\endgroup\$
– Dan BradburySep 22 '14 at 20:23

This one is great for programming best practices and tips from the trenches. Tons of game programming books have you go down the same path with whatever scripting language or engine they are pimping. This book goes into WHY you should do things for game development. For example, the networking section talks about why you should do things for games that normally would never be done for non-game applications. Those nuggets of information, backed up by experience, are priceless.

For game design, the best book, hands down, is The Art of Game Design (linked in other answers)

\$\begingroup\$I'm about half-way through Game Coding Complete, and there are some suggestions Mike makes that are... questionable, at best. It's not something I'd recommend, particularly for someone who hasn't worked on a large C++ project before.\$\endgroup\$
– greyfadeJul 22 '10 at 23:08

\$\begingroup\$+1 on this, the logic and better thinking over older approaches is awesome. It also covers the things that are often assumed as default knowledge.\$\endgroup\$
– underscorediscoveryAug 18 '10 at 6:55

This was the best book I've ever found on teaching game/graphics development. It starts with an overview of the math involved and moves on to explaining DirectX. But the lessons can useful beyond DirectX: it explains, at a mathematical level, lighting and shadows and normals and many other things.

A must have reference book written by the GOF who are highly know in the litterature of programming. Begins with a quik presentation of each patterns in the book and then explain them one by one with exemples, when to use, UML representation and more.

Programming Role Playing Games With DirectX
This is a great book that goes through everything about the basics of DirectX and Role playing games. It includes many examples that can be used for many different games. Some topics include:

I think this book is the logic one to read when you finish Clean Code (See other answer). It teach you how to deal with bad design of code and rework it into well-designed, robust code. The author present you how to deal with such code in a nice and easily-understandable way. A must have in your bookshelf !

\$\begingroup\$Agreed. At first glance the book didn't impress me. A bunch of lists I could compile myself? But the power lies in the fact that they're all ready for you. I can have a germ of an idea, pop the book open to something barely relevant to it and brainstorm a bunch of variations and things without losing my creative flow by stopping to make a list.\$\endgroup\$
– Jason PineoMar 13 '11 at 6:26

\$\begingroup\$yes! thats the beauty of this book. Plus it feeds you with more ideas, actually every possible idea that a game can have. A must in game developer's book shelf :)\$\endgroup\$
– GamDroidMar 18 '11 at 8:52

The Mastering Unreal Technology books are really good for learning how a great engine works. Learning how a great engine works doesn't necessary teach the nuts and bolts of how to create an engine. But, it will teach you the features of a great engine and how those features should work.

There are two versions of the books. An older book and a new set of three (1, 2, 3)

A nice book that teach you how to write code that can be easily understood, a must-read that taught me much more than I though at first. Talks about meaningful names, comments, functions, formatting, objects and data structure and much more. I highly recommend !